The US Dollar fell to a new nine-month low against Sterling and dropped to a fresh eight-month low against the Euro as concerns over the closure of the US federal government dented Dollar sentiment and as positive news out of the UK and Europe boosted those regions respective currencies.
The Euro jumped higher against many of its peers after Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta won a vote of confidence after Silvio Berlusconi’s allies stabbed him in the back and pledged their support to the government. The Pound meanwhile was boosted by data which showed that construction in the country expanded for a fifth consecutive month in September adding to evidence that the UK economy is continuing to expand.
Adding to the ‘Greenback’s’ woes was the release of the latest ADP employment change data. According to the ADP Research Institute the US jobs market is struggling to pick up momentum as companies added fewer workers than expected in September. The data showed that employment increased by 166,000, which was below the 180,000 expected by economists.
The ADP report is often seen as the less important precursor to the non-farm payrolls data released by the US Labour Department, however if the federal government shutdown continues until Friday when it is due for release the data will not be published due to the departments closure.
“In the absence of the Labour Department’s jobs data the ADP report would take on a greater significance. We will be comfortable relying on the ADP series as a close proxy of September hiring,” said Joseph LaVorgna, US chief economist at Deutsche Bank Securities.
The weaker-than expected ADP data is likely to increase speculation that the Federal Reserve will refrain from tapering its monetary easing programme, as the government shutdown rolls on investors are already predicting that the Central Bank will choose to hold off on any tapering.
US Dollar (USD) Current Exchange Rates
The US Dollar/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6158
The US Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.7359
The US Dollar/ Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.0342
The US Dollar/ Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.0693
The US Dollar/ New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.2129
The US Dollar/Japanese Yen Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 97.2455
The US Dollar/ South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 10.0823
The Pound Sterling/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.6238
The Euro/ US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.3588
(Correct as of 15:10 pm GMT)
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